HUNTSVILLE, AL -- Every year since 1940, Alabama A&M and Alabama State have squared off in Birmingham for the Magic City Classic football game.

Montgomery has an even older college football grudge match, the annual Turkey Day Classic between Alabama State and Tuskegee that dates to 1924.

Huntsville leaders hope Saturday's inaugural Louis Crews Classic between Alabama A&M and Central State University, which the Bulldogs won 45 to 0 in shutout, is the start of an equally illustrious tradition.

The Huntsville Sports Commission helped underwrite the cost of the game using $50,000 in city liquor and lodging taxes.

City Councilmen Richard Showers and Will Culver, both A&M alumni, sponsored the appropriation and say the event has the potential to become an economic powerhouse.

Showers, who played halfback for A&M in 1964, said he envisions the game packing Louis Crews Stadium with 21,000 fans who will fill hotel rooms and restaurants and keep cash registers ringing all weekend.

"I see it becoming a drawing card like the Magic City Classic," he said Thursday. "The revenue that will be generated would be a good opportunity for Huntsville and the state."

Saturday's announced attendance of 5,589 was about 15,411 short of a sellout, but Showers said future classics could pit A&M against in-state rival Tuskegee, a historically black college near Montgomery.

"That's probably going to happen," he said.

Culver, who earned both his undergraduate and master's degrees at A&M, said spending $50,000 to help get the event off the ground is a small price to pay for a potentially huge return.

"I know we're going through some sluggish economic times," Culver said Thursday, "but we're still tasked with trying to generate some revenues for the city.

"That kind of investment always comes back 100-plus fold," he said.

The game and the festivities surrounding it are dedicated to the memory of Crews, A&M's legendary former football coach. Crews roamed the sidelines from 1960-75, compiling a 93-53-3 record and leading the Bulldogs to an undefeated season in 1963.

Seven of his players made it to the NFL, including Pittsburgh Steelers Hall of Famer John Stallworth.